Sheet-metal end structure for railway-cars



Patented Aug. 10, 1920.

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SHEET METAL END STRUCTURE FOR RAlLW AY CARS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 27, 1918.

V. E. SISSON. SHEET METAL END STRUCTURE FOR RAILWAY CARS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 27,1918.

Patented Aug."10, 1920.

. SHEETS-SHEET 2.

JWQWAM UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VINTON E. SISSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNO'R TO WALTER P. MURPHY, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SHEET-METAL END STRUCTURE FOR RAILWAY-CARS.

Original application filed January 22, 1915, Serial No. 3,761.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Aug. 10, 1920.

Patent N0. 1,271,234, dated July 2, 1918- Divided and this application filed June 27, 1918. Serial No. 242,232.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VINTON E. SIssoN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sheet-Metal End Structures for Railway-( lars, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the construction of railway cars, and more particularly to a metal end structure for railway cars made up of one or more sheet steel plates or panels formed with reinforcing or stiffening corrugations. It is well known that the end walls of railway box cars are more likely to be broken or otherwise injured than the side walls. This is due to the inertia thrusts and pressures caused by the shifting of the cargo when the train starts and stops. These thrusts may be local, tending to perforate the end in some particular spot, as for example, when a. piece of pipe or lumber shifts lengthwise against the end of the car; or they may be general, tendingto break out the end wall as a whole or tear it from its framing. For the purpose therefore of greater strength and durability, car ends have of late been constructed of sheet metal corrugated or formed with ribs calculated to give the desired strength and rigidity.

One of the principal objects of my invention is to provide a corrugated sheet metal end structure for railway cars in which the corrugations have a' configuration and arrangement that imparts to the structure a maximum capacity for resisting cargo thrusts, both local and general, with a minimum weight of metal. It is important that structures of this sort should be as light as possible consistent with the strength and durability both for the reason of economy and manufacturing costs, and also so that they will add as little as may be possible to the weight of the car.

The invention has for further objects such other new and improved constructions and arrangements of sheet metal car ends as will be hereinafter described and claimed.

The invention is illustrated in a preferred embodiment in the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is an end elevation of the superstructure of a box car provided with a sheet metal end wall constructed in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view, taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view of one of the panels in process of manufacture; that is, after the corrugations have been pressed out and before the sheet has been trimmed; and

Figs. 4 and 5 are sections taken on lines 4-4 and 55, respectively, of Fig. 3.

Like characters of reference designate like parts in the several figures of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings, 25 designates one of the end plates of a railway box car, 26 the end sill, 27 the flooring of the car, 28 the corner posts, and 29 the side girths or belt rails. V

The end structure of my invention consists of an upper panel 30 secured to the end plate 25 by bolts 31, the upper edge of the panel being overlapped by the end facia plate 32, and a lower panel-33. The upper edge of panel 33 is overlapped by the lower edge of the upper panel and is secured thereto by rivets 34. Both panels are preferably formed with flanges 35 along their lateral edges secured to the corner posts 28 -by bolts 36. The lower panel is attached. to the end sill 26 by any suitable attaching device, such as bolts 37 Thecend structure is preferably anchored to the belt rails 29 by anchoring devices 38. The panels 30 and 33 comprise in each case a centrally corrugated portion surrounded by a flat marginal portion. The centrally corrugated or stiffened portion of the plate is formed by a series of outwardly pressed horizontal corrugations, the greatest cross-sectional area of which is adjacent the vertical center line of the end. Each corrugation preferably consists of a central section 39 of maximum depth and on each side of this gradually tapering sections 40 ending in tapered or semi-conical terminal portions 41 which merge into the marginal portions of the panel. These corrugations are substantially uniform in width and merge one into the other so that the configuration of the panel car can suffer strain. The arrangement in this regard is far superior for the particular purpose for which the panels are designed to one in which ribs are pressed in a sheet of metal with comparatively wide spaces thereby increasing the strength of the corru ation as a beam.

he idea embodied in this invention is to get a maximum'cross-sectional area of corrugation at the middle of the plate, while between them. Furthermore, the panels as\still making the plate no thinner and no preferably constructed, present curved or undulated surfaces to the load within the car which tend to deflect the impact of small metal articles which would be likely' to puncture a flat surface.

All of the corrugations terminate within the edges of the panels, thus providing flat marginal portions.

The purpose. of these marginal portions is, first, to stiffen and rigidify the panel as against the tendency to bulge on the horizontal line. This tendency is further resisted by the vertical flanges 35. If the corrugations ran to the edges of the panels, a load upon either-of the panels would tend to expand the corrugations and in consequence deflect the end. This tendency is resisted by. the flat marginal portions which extend across the panel at opposite ends of the corrugations. The flat marginal portions at the top and bottom of the panel and likewise the flat marginal portions at the sides afford means for securing the end structure to the framing of the car with a'weather and grainproof connection. By overlapping the panels at the middle of the car, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, a girth member is provided which reinforces the end at the point where the end sheets are secured together.

In Fig. 3, the dotted line designated 42 indicates the size of the sheet before the corrugations are pressed, and the dot-and-dash line 43 indicates the line on which the sheet is sheared after the corrugations have been pressed. The corrugations when pressed be-, ing the deepest at their center, will tend to draw inwardly the edges of the sheet parallel to the corrugations, as indicated at 44. The other edges of the sheet will also be drawn in as indicated at 45. In this construction it is possible to obtain the deepening of the corrugations at the middle without making the plate any weaker at the center portion than at the terminals of the corrugationsbecause of the freedom with which the middle of the plate will pull in under the pressure of the dies used in forming the corrugations. To put it another way,-when the corrugations are of equal width and depth and terminate in pointed ends, the weakest place in the plate will be weaker at this place than it is at the junc tion between the corrugations proper and their terminals.

This a plication is a division of my application erial No. 3,761, filed January 22, 1915, now Patent No. 1,271,234, dated July 2,1918. a

' I claim 1. An end structure for railway cars comprising a sheet metal panel formed with parallel corrugations each of which comprises a central, portion of appreciable length having maximum cross-sectional area, which is uniform throughout said portion, portions at the sides ofthe central portion having cross-sectional areas which diminish toward the edges of the plate, and terminal portions which die away into the plane of the marginal portions of the panel. 2. An end structure for railway cars, comprising a plurality of metal sheets overlapped at their meeting-edges and formed with horizontal corrugations which extend across the end of the car to provide rigidifying beams having central portions of maxlmum uniform depth, and appreciable length, side portions which diminish in depth toward the side of the car, and terminal portions which die away into the plane of the marginal portions of said sheets.

3. An end structure for railway cars, comprising a plurality of metal sheets overlapped at their meeting edges and formed with horizontal corrugations which extend across the end of the car to provide rigidifying beams each having a central portion of maximum depth, side portions which diminish in depth toward the side of the car, and terminal portions which die away into the plane of the marginal portions of said sheets; said corrugations being formed of substantially uniform width and merging one into another to provide a sinuous configuration in cross-section.

4. An end structure for railway cars comprising a plurality of metal sheets overlapped at their meeting edges, provided with lateral flanges which overlap the corner posts of the car and formed with horizontal corrugations which-extend across. the end of the car to provide rigidifying beams each having a central portion of maximum depth, side portions which diminish in depth toward the side of the car, and terminal portions whichdie away into the plane of'the marginal portions of said sheets; said corrugations being formed of substantially uniform width and merging one into another to provide a sinuous configuration in cross section.

5. A sheet metal Wall panel for a railway car formed with a plurality of substantially parallel corrugations having central portions of substantial length and of substantially uniform cross sectional area, and portions at the sides of said central portions which are of uniform width and of diminishing depth toward the edges of the panel.

6. A sheet metal wall panel for a railway car formed with a plurality of substantially parallel corrugations having central portions of substantial length and of substantially uniform cross sectional area, portions at the sides of said central portions which are of diminishing cross sectional area toward the edges of the panel, and terminal portions substantially semi-conical in configuration.

7. A sheet metal wall panel for a railway car formed with a plurality of substantially parallel corrugations having central portions of substantial length and of substantially uniform cross sectional area, portions at the sides of said central portions which are of uniform width and diminishing depth toward the edges of the panel, and terminal portions substantially semi-conical in configuration.

8. A sheet metal wall panel for a railway car formed with a plurality of substantially parallel corrugations having central portions of substantial length and maximum cross sectional area, portions at the sides of the central portions which are of diminishing cross sectional area toward the edges of the panel, and terminal portions which have a greater taper than the last mentionedportions and merge into the sheet.

9. A sheet metal wall panel for a railway car formed with a plurality of substantially parallel corrugations having central. portions of substantial length and maximum cross sectional area, portions at the sides of the central portions which are of diminishing cross sectional area toward the edges of the panel, and terminal portions which have a greater taper than the last mentioned portions and merge into the sheet, said corrugations, except for the terminal portions, being of substantially uniform width. 1

10. A sheet metal wall panel for a railway car formed with a plurality of substantially parallel corrugations having central portions of substantial length and maximum cross sectional area, portions at the sides of the central portions which are of diminlshlng cross sectional area toward the edges of the panel, terminal portions which have a greater taper than the last mentioned port ons and merge into the sheet, said corrugations, except for the terminal portions, being of substantially-uniform width, and the intervening portions of the panel being curved so that this part thereof is slnuous in configuration.

VINTON E. sIssoN. 

